


Mao Mao: Short Tales

by Zephyrous



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Comedy, Domestic, Drabble Collection, Flash Fic, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Slice of Life, episodic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-01-21 13:03:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21299903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zephyrous/pseuds/Zephyrous
Summary: A collection of small works relating to the daily problems and adventures of Mao Mao and his crew.
Relationships: Mao Mao & Badgerclops, Mao mao/badgerclops
Comments: 8
Kudos: 98





	1. Monster

_ Giggle _.

There it was again. Adorabat’s eyes shot open. There was no mistaking it this time: there was definitely a monster under her bed.

Adorabat slowly procured a smoke bomb from her nightstand, trying to move as quietly as possible. As she stood up, she inhaled deeply and hesitated for just a moment.

In only a second, she jumped off the bed and scanned underneath as soon as she hit the floor, but nothing was there. Adorabat scowled, hiding the bomb underneath her wing. Was she actually going delusional? Mao Mao had warned her about eating cobbler before bed, but maybe she _ really _ shouldn’t have eaten it.

_ Giggle _.

Adorabat jumped this time. Nope, not going crazy. Actual monster somewhere in the house. Yet, she couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. As soon as the sound came, it vanished and dispersed through the room into the house, essentially becoming one with the air. It was a little creepy, to say the least.

Adorabat grabbed her cover and walked out into the hallway. She would fly, but it was a little chilly in the house, and she wouldn’t be able to flap her wings while wrapping up. Thus, she resigned herself to the earthly, mortal action of hopping up the stairs. Her choice was warmth or godhood, and she chose blanket, as any would.

She made her way to the room Badgerclops had installed not too long ago. Mao Mao had complained about how it ruined the architectural style on the outside, but Badgerclops reassured him he’d remodel the outside, too.

He still has yet to do so, but the last thing Mao Mao would want to do is destroy the room.

Adorabat reached their room and slowly slid the door open. Inside, she looked to the bed and saw Mao Mao comfortably resting on top of Badgerclops. It had become his favorite place to sleep in the past few months. She really hated disturbing them in the nighttime, especially since Badgerclops was snoring with an arm wrapped around his lover. Even more so for Mao Mao, since the cat actually _ purred _softly instead of snoring whenever he slept with Badgerclops. Yet, the giggling wasn’t just going to go away on its own.

“Hey, Mao Mao?” Adorabat whispered. “There’s a monster somewhere in the house.”

“Hrmgh?” Mao Mao shuffled a little, but nothing else.

“Mao Mao,” Adorabat whispered with more force, “monster in the house!”

“Huh?” Mao Mao groggily lifted his head from Badgerclops’s chest and turned to Adorabat without opening his eyes. “Adorabat, you need something?” he mumbled.

“Monster.”

“Monster, under your bed?” Mao Mao yawned. “I thought you liked dealing with monsters.”

“I do!” Adorabat whimpered. “But I can’t find this one. It’s somewhere in the house.”

“Why don’t you…” Mao Mao paused as he kneaded Badgerclops’s chest, exhibiting stereotypical cat behavior, “check under your bed?”

Adorabat furrowed her brow. Mao Mao was basically still asleep, apparent in the soft _ purr _ that he let escape as he relaxed his head back onto Badgerclops’s chest. She would have to get on the bed and start jumping in a second if he didn’t wake up.

_ Giggle _.

Mao Mao’s eyes shot open as he stared at Adorabat. “Was that you?”

“Monster!” Adorabat groaned loudly.

“From where?”

“Somewhere? In the house? I can’t find it,” Adorabat crossed her wings and huffed. Finally, some progress was being made.

“Uh, okay,” Mao Mao looked down and realized he was being held down by his partner. “Badgerclops, we gotta look around for a monster.”

“What’s that?” Badgerclops mumbled.

“There’s a man in the house,” Mao Mao replied.

Badgerclops gave a small chuckle. “You can be the man of _ my _ house and-”

Mao Mao quickly moved to cover his mouth. “Hun, Adorabat is _ in _the room,” he coughed.

Badgerclops looked to the door. “Oh. Hey, Adorabat. Why are you here?”

Adorabat hopped onto the bed. “There’s a monster in the house! They keep giggling!” she shouted, annoyed by the fact she’s had to repeat herself so many times.

“What are they giggling about?” Badgerclops looked back to Mao Mao.

“I think the better question is why are they in our house,” Mao Mao deadpanned.

“Okay, but if they have something funny to laugh at, I wanna laugh, too,” Badgerclops released Mao Mao from his torso and proceeded to let the cat get up.

_ Giggle _.

Mao Mao, now finally alert, immediately scrunched his face up. “Pinky!” he yelled, “why are you in our house at midnight?!”

“Oh!” Adorabat gasped in surprise. “That’s why the laugh sounded so ugly!”

“Wait, didn’t we lock him up in the cell?” Badgerclops asked. Mao Mao’s eyes went wide. He had completely forgotten about the jailed sweetypie, especially since Pinky, surprisingly, hadn’t made any noise since he was locked up.

“Drats, that vermin probably got out,” Mao Mao gritted his teeth. “Adorabat, now that we know who our target is, can you do a quick sweep of the house?”

“It’s cold,” Adorabat said through chattering teeth. “Why don’t we have a heater in our house?”

Mao Mao looked to Badgerclops with a scowl as his partner pondered for a second. “Wait,” the badger hummed, “was I supposed to install that _ before _ winter?”

“Badgerclops, I love you, but you have _ got _to stop putting off your chores,” Mao Mao rolled his eyes as he got out of the bed.

“Wait, I’m sorry,” Badgerclops drawled in a faux crying manner as he reached an arm out. “Here, Adorabat,” Badgerclops rummaged through their nightstand, pulling out a small, circular pouch. “This is a hand warmer. Just shake it to activate it. Should help a little with heat,” he said as he tossed the pouch.

“Yay!” Adorabat squealed as she caught the warmer. “Adversity makes the soul strong, but less adversity makes the soul happy,” she exclaimed as she dropped her cover and flew off to begin her search of the house.

Mao Mao shook his head as Badgerclops got up and joined him by his side. With a sudden groan, Mao Mao threw his head into Badgerclops’s chest. “I really don’t want to have to deal with Pinky right now,” he whined, muffled.

“No one ever does,” Badgerclops laughed, petting Mao Mao on the head. “But the faster we find the ’monster,’ the faster we can lie back down,” he said, before kissing the cat on the head.

“Yeah, true enough,” Mao Mao smiled as he lifted his head and nuzzled Badgerclops.

“Besides,” Badgerclops continued as he took Mao Mao’s hand and began walking out of the room, “we can tie him up and throw, like, peanuts at him or something when we catch him. A nice little date, like going to the circus.”

“He’d probably enjoy that more than anything.”

Badgerclops shrugged. “If all parties involved are happy, what’s the issue?”

Mao Mao simply laughed as he caressed Badgerclops’s arm with his free hand. “I feel like there’s something to be said about morality there, but I can’t argue with you.”

“Because my logic is infallible?”

“As infallible as stupid can get.”

They shared a final chuckle as they walked down the stairs and into the living room, where Adorabat had set the warming pouch on fire to make it even hotter. A few embers had already fallen onto various pieces of furniture, which were quickly being ignited. Badgerclops and Mao Mao watched with wide eyes for a few seconds as they processed the scene. Then, chaos ensued as they tried to put out the fires.

_ Giggle _.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Here's the start of a new collection of one shots that I'll write now and then. Get ready for lots of fluffy stuff.  
November is going to be a stressful month. Yet, I still want to write stuff, so I'd probably be adding smaller works to this collection throughout the month as _Search for Answers_ goes through a nebulous hiatus. ^ ^;  
(Can I just add how happy I am about the 200 kudos and 2.4k views on that one? Thank you guys so much!)  
Once December hits, though, I should be mostly freed from my major stress causers. Yay! \o/  
As always, I hope you all have enjoyed reading!


	2. Rainy

A family of birds snuggled together as they slept contentedly, hidden away in their nest and sheltered in their tree as the soft patter of rain continued to ease the Pure Heart Valley. It was a calming, rhythmic shower enjoyed by the few that were still awake to hear it as the hour hand drew near midnight. It was a serene setting, enough to make even the most dastardly villain stop and contemplate in its tranquility.

“Badgerclops, I already told you that you can’t do that!”

Well, save for a house that sat overlooking the valley.

Mao Mao threw his money down and slammed his fist on the floor, causing a few of the game pieces to jump slightly. “You can’t just sell a hotel for twenty dollars. They have written prices!” he exclaimed, holding up a property card and frantically pointing to the different values.

Badgerclops scoffed and pulled the banker’s tray away. “Dude, those prices are outrageous. I’m the banker, and I want to put a max price on these hotels. No one should ever have to pay that much.” He unwrapped a piece of chocolate and plopped it into his mouth.”Plus, Adorabat gives me candy with each transaction.”

“Game the system!” Adorabat shouted excitedly as she placed another hotel on the board.

“If you set a price ceiling, you’ll cause a shortage; you’re preventing the free market from maintaining equilibrium, and everything will go wrong!” Mao Mao groaned as he knocked on the floor. “Look, we’re already out of hotels due to your incompetence!”

“Sounds like you’re just jealous you’re not getting chocolate,” Badgerclops grinned as he took another piece.

“Hey!” Adorabat quickly snatched the chocolate back. “That wasn’t a transaction. I didn’t get a hotel.”

“You took them all,” Badgerclops rattled the box, proceeding to point to all twelve that littered the board.

“What?!” Adorabat yelled. “How am I supposed to grow my capitalistic enterprise now?”

Mao Mao looked to Badgerclops with an “I-told-you-so” glare. He sighed and began gathering his money. “We should have stuck to Candy Land,” the cat mumbled.

“You know how I feel about Candy Land!” Badgerclops cried, slamming the banker’s tray down and making the paper money fly everywhere. The three of them watched as the paper fluttered to the floor, staying silent as they examined their mess after the money settled.

“Badgerclops, Adorabat, clean this up,” Mao Mao huffed as he proceeded to get up. “I’m going to see if the pizza cooled off.”

Badgerclops watched as Mao Mao walked into the kitchen. Looking back to the mess before them, he got up as well. “Adorabat, clean this up,” he said as he rushed after Mao Mao.

“Hey, no fair!” She yelled in the distance as Badgerclops walked in to see Mao Mao cutting the pie into slices.

Slowly, Badgerclops approached from behind, wrapping his arms around Mao Mao’s waist and setting his chin atop his head. “How’s it lookin’, kitten?”

“Don’t talk to me. I’m upset,” Mao Mao said plainly as he ran the cutter down the pizza again.

“What? No, why?” Badgerclops pouted.

Mao Mao stopped slicing for a second and paused, before muttering under his breath, “You never let me win at Monopoly.”

Badgerclops stifled a laugh and strengthened his embrace on the cat. “Oh my God, you’re too cute.” He kissed the cat on the head. “I’m sorry. I won’t be such a jerk next time.”

“So you knew you were being a jerk,” Mao Mao looked up and glared.

“I like riling you up,” Badgerclops grinned.

“You’re gonna make it up to me later, know that,” Mao Mao said as he motioned for Badgerclops to hand him a few plates. 

“Yeah, totally,” Badgerclops extended his arm to retrieve them from the other side of the kitchen, placing them beside the cat. “I got a few ideas for going about that,” he smirked, kissing the top of Mao Mao’s head again as he slowly ran a claw down his partner’s hip, causing the cat to inhale sharply and shiver.

Adorabat walked in, dragging the Monopoly box behind her. “Is the pizza done? I’m tired,” she panted, collapsing on the floor.

“Yeah,” Badgerclops said, letting go of Mao Mao to grab a plate. “Have you decided what you want to watch yet?”

“Yes!” She jumped up, flapping her wings to perch herself on the counter. “I found a really good movie the other day that I wanted to watch with you guys.”

“If you want to start setting up the TV,” Mao Mao loaded pizza onto another plate as he looked away in an attempt to hide his blush from Adorabat, “I can bring you your plate. Just be careful with the remote.”

“Okay!” Adorabat flew off into the living room, leaving Badgerclops and Mao Mao alone again.

“We always eat dinner late,” Badgerclops chuckled as he began putting away a few of the utensils they had neglected to store after making the pizza.

“It’s a Fireday, so staying up later isn’t a problem,” Mao Mao said as he grabbed the two plates, his blush finally beginning to settle. “Adorabat likes staying up late anyways, so giving her a specified day each week helps keep her from complaining about her bedtime.”

As they walked into the living room, Badgerclops procured a cover. Adorabat was hitting the couch cushions in anticipation as they set their plates down on the coffee table. Badgerclops sat down first, yawning loudly in the process and extending an arm to turn the lights off. Adorabat placed herself on top of his head, motioning for Mao Mao to pass her plate. As Mao Mao did so, he sat in between Badgerclops’s legs, taking the cover that the badger had acquired and spreading it over them. Finally, he grabbed the last of the plates from the table, handing one off to his partner as he leaned back and sighed, feeling himself melt into Badgerclops’s warmth. He grabbed the remote from the side of the couch and pressed play, resting his head against Badgerclops’s chest.

Though the movie was actually rather violent and Badgerclops and Mao Mao tensed up from time to time, Badgerclops heard Mao Mao purr every so often as he stroked the cat’s sides. There was a placidity about it all, even as shrieks came from the television. The rain still gave a gentle patter outside, the residents still snored softly in the sleeping valley, and the birds still snuggled together in their nest. It was a welcomed and much-deserved respite for our heroes.

As the credits rolled, the rain sang to them in their sleep in the wee hours of Waturday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, December! Advance forth and end my woes! November, with her deadlines approach, stands more bleak than thee, even though thy deadlines are much more pressing and stress-inducing to me.  
Keep powering through, people! The semester is drawing near.  
(Also, follow me on Instagram if you haven't already! I post art and stupid stuff on my story. My user is in my profile bio.)  
Thank you for reading, and I hope you've all enjoyed this small chapter. ^ ^


	3. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mao Mao has a few dreams each night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for some more mature topics in this particular work.

I

Hey, are you asleep?

I had the worst dream and I can’t stop shivering.

Shiver, shiver.

Even in your embrace I feel alone. 

I want to melt into your warmth but I can’t stop

shivering. I want this feeling to go away.

Hugging you more only makes the shiver

worse. 

II

I know you can’t hear me. You’re too busy sleeping and snoring,

but I still want to tell you my dream tonight wasn’t so bad.

You, Adorabat, and I all sat on a hill for a little picnic.

There was a pain in my heart the entire time,

but it faded whenever you smiled.

III

and he hurt me and he hurt me and he hurt me and he hurt me and

I can’t shake the feeling that he’s still watching me.

Judging me still. 

I’ve matted your fur with my tears. I’m sorry.

I want to wake you up to hug me, but I feel as if my father will

grab my neck and strangle me if I try to utter a single word of my dream

and he’ll hurt me and he’ll hurt me and he’ll hurt me and he’ll hurt me and

You shouldn’t have to deal with this.

I’m sorry.

IV

Wow.

I think I might be a little messed up. I’m still panting.

Hey, have you considered that? Maybe you don’t know how fucked up I am.

I’m still blushing, even through tears running down my face. I look stupid.

I think it might be repressed anger, but why am I

angry? Hey, can you help me?

Hey, can you help me?

I think I need to be punished.

V

No dreams tonight. I’ve just been lying here on you for a few

hours now. I can’t seem to even close my eyes.

It continues to rain.

VI

I was staring at this painting, but the more I looked,

the more I saw nothing.

It was a portrait of me.

I couldn’t stop staring, but you put a hand on my shoulder and 

led me away. Thank you for that. I don’t think I would have stopped staring if you didn’t.

Who painted it? How did they know?

How did you know?

What can I give him, as poor as I am?

VII

I can’t stop crying tonight.

I want to claw out my own face. I don’t think I should be here or

anywhere. It was repulsive tonight. I don’t know what it meant.

I don’t want to know what it meant. I want to dart from this bed because

I don’t want to hurt you.

I wish you could pet me on the head and tell me it’s

all okay. Would you forgive me for everything?

I think my anger got worse. I just want to be hurt, but

I’ll hurt you in the process, too.

If I could, I’d scream into your chest right now.

I’d tear out my own heart and shove it into your mouth.

Bite down.

VIII

What do you dream about, Badgerclops?

You’re always snoring so softly. Do you even dream?

Are dreams only a curse affixed to me that I burden alone?

Do you see the same dreams I do?

Maybe if you did, you’d grow to understand me more.

I say that, but I think you know me better than 

I know myself.

I know you’ve seen my dreams. I don’t know if you choose to ignore them or secretly despise me for them.

Still, how could you miss them?

I am the manifestation of my dreams.

My dreams lie on your chest every night.

Are they heavy?

IX

I want to say I’ve come a long way, 

but I think I just grew into a tall child.

X

Today, I saw you

and every emotion hit me at once.

I ended up screaming because I didn’t know how else to express myself.

But it wasn’t a pained or frightened scream,

just a scream of everything.

Everything that’s ever happened to me, and

everything that will happen to me.

Did you hear it?

Could you hear me?

I was screaming your name, you know. I screamed till I couldn’t speak anymore.

What did that scream mean? Maybe you could tell me,

but I don’t want to wake you up right now.

What if you’re dreaming right now? Can I listen?

Will you let me burden your dreams, too?

XI

You want to know something?

I love you, but I don’t think I tell you enough.

Tonight you saw me sitting on the rooftop.

You told me to trust you and I did.

Just then, you took my hand and we

flew off into the night sky and

danced amongst the stars.

It’s a little funny, talking about it out loud. Something out of a fairytale.

But it was magical, more illuminating than anything I’d ever felt.

I’d like to dance like that someday. I’d like to hold you like that.

Kiss you like that.

Wouldn’t that be nice? I love you, but sometimes I don’t know how to say it.

I think I’m still learning how to love,

but I’m glad to be learning with you.

XII

Hey, are you asleep?

I think I can join you tonight. No more telling my dreams to the void.

No more telling to those who can’t hear.

No more keeping it to myself.

My dream was a little different tonight, but

I’ll tell you about it in the morning.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


XIII

Silence again, save for the occasional snore that escaped Badgerclops’s lips. Mao Mao looked out the window. Still yet, another dream that left him feeling empty.

“Hey, you awake?” he mumbled. It was going to be a long night.

Unexpectedly, a hand ran down his back and proceeded to caress his cheek. Mao Mao looked back to see Badgerclops slightly smiling at him. “Yeah. Need something, kitten?”

Mao Mao paused for a moment, before returning his head back on the badger’s chest and exhaling. “Just needed to say I love you,” Mao Mao yawned.

Badgerclops leaned forward and kissed the cat on his forehead. “Love you too.”

Mao Mao closed his eyes. In only a few moments, his long night vanished with a soft _ purr _ that signaled to Badgerclops he had a sleeping, content cat in his embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that was weird and different. I felt like writing something a little more free and serious, so I came out with some poetry.  
Obviously, I'll never get rid of my standard fiction writing, but I really liked doing this! Would you guys like to see more free prose works? Let me know.  
As always, I hope you guys have enjoyed reading. ^ ^


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